Metho report

[Guest guest]

A number of people have asked me privately how I'm doing on methotrexate, so I

thought I would give you a 5 week report. I'm taking 10mg/week, which is 4 very

small pills taken every Sunday night before bed with a lot of water. I've had

no side effects to this date, but 10mg is a rather small dosage.

I noticed after about 4 days that my knees felt a bit better - now after 5

weeks, they are almost back to 100% which is a great relief.(docs say it

generally takes a few months for this to take effect, although my current doc

said sometimes patients get very quick relief) I had experienced a very rough

Spring and Summer. My recent blood tests (taken about 4 1/2 weeks after

starting drug) indicated no problems with kidney or liver. And my sed rate had

dropped to 14, something which hadn't happened since I first got the disease, so

that was good news. (It had been 37 in August)

My shoulders still bother me, but are slowly getting better - still got a ways

to go and I am not sure if that will mean an increase to 15mg or exactly what.

Perhaps the drug will continue to work. My hands remain somewhat stiff , not so

much my left hand which is pretty good, but my right hand still has a finger I

can only bend about 1/2 way. A friend who is the local GP suspects a nodule on

the tendon in that finger and suggests that it will probably go away in time.

I've had that for a few months now. My wrists are a bit better although can

still be sore in the mornings - at least they don't hurt like crazy when I flip

a page of the newspaper, which had been happening.

I continue to take my minocycline - 100 mg, 2x/day , a dosage that has never

bothered me since day 1 (I'm lucky). I like to think that it is now doing it's

job since the inflammation has subsided. We shall see - I have no idea of

knowing. I also have no idea of the length of time I will take the metho - I

suspect that I will be on it for a good 6 months and then will reevaluate what

is happening. I haven't had any comments made on that aspect by my doctors .

I'm not too adverse to being on it, since I am now out walking again and have

even been hiking on some rough trails - not far (about 2-3 miles), but still

amazingly well for where I was. I have noticed after a walk that once I get

back in the car and drive home, I am no longer stiffening up. It used to be the

case that I would arrive back home (sometimes only after a few miles in the car)

and would hardly be able to get out of the car and walk, I would stiffen up so

fast. That has disappeared which is great.

I still take my Nsaids , but try to skip one now and then as I know that they

tax the kidneys when taken in combo with the metho. I'd like to stop them

alltogether, but am not sure I'm there yet.

So from my experience, this has been a worthwhile endeavor. I am not suggesting

that this is for anyone else - that's a personal decision and I realize that Dr.

Brown would give me a good whack probably for doing this (although he used

Prednisone, so nobody's perfect. ) I am relieved to find that I didn't drop

over dead or have my hair fall out or vomit constantly - those were real fears I

had , that I must say I developed from a year of reading the notes here. I might

add that most doctors who were dispensing this drug and had observed their

patients over a number of years did not find that this happened with their

patients. Some of these doctors are local practioners here in the hills of SW VA

and I know them personally (the owner's wife here at the Inn is a GP of 27 years

and has been treating about 15 patients with metho and has had no problems with

it), so I know they are not lying to me when they tell me this.

I have no doubts that there are a certain percentage of folks who have very

negative reactions to this drug or any other drug and they probably think I am

crazy. Yet, I always try to caution myself against what I read here or in any

other group, as it is the nature of these groups to come to the party with a

problem. And that's why these groups exist - to air one's problems and hopefully

get some help. One observes similar behavior in computer groups, electronics

groups,etc. You don't hear from the people who are doing well very often, only

from those who have had a problem and I think that is absolutely understandable.

Yet,if you believed everything you read in those groups, you would never buy a

computer from any company.

My only hope in taking the metho is that it would knock the inflammation back,

which the Nsaids alone weren't doing, nor was the minocycline. I probably have

a stubborn case and needed something else - all of you who do so well with

minocycline alone may not have such stubborn cases. Or if you do, perhaps you

are willing to tolerate the limitations and pain while you wait for the mino to

work. I, personally, don't have that much patience. I hope I am making the

right decisions - time will tell, won't it?

So that's it in a nutshell. I'll follow up in another couple of months to let

you know if I'm progressing or have encountered obstacles (banish the thought!

or have developed side effects.

Mark

(juggling those medications!

http://Mark_Holmes.tripod.com

RA 4/98 AP 7/98

Minocycline (Lederle generic) 100mg 2x/day MWF;Methotrexate (10mg/once weekly);

folic acid (1 mg/day); Lodine 400mg 3x/day;Zone Diet;Fish Oil(9

caps/day);acidopholus;Milk Thistle;MSM (2G/day)

RA Chat - http://members.tripod.com/~Mark_Holmes/RA/ra.html

ICQ 18123139

http://Mark_Holmes.tripod.com

http://www.bbonline.com/va/foxhill (Work)

Member of the World Photo Gallery at http://www.WorldPhotoGallery.com